Bin fat for a baby

Would-be dads, ditch fatty food to improve the quality of your sperm. In a study of 99 US men, those who ate the most fat had sperm counts in a single ejaculation 43 per cent lower than those who ate the least. Their sperm concentration was also 38 per cent lower (Human Reproduction, DOI: 10.1093/humrep/des065).

Dish array

The world's largest radio telescope may be built across eight countries in southern Africa. An advisory committee for the planned Square Kilometre Array, to consist of thousands of dishes, has narrowly recommended a South Africa-led bid ahead of a rival bid from Australia and New Zealand. The final decision will be made next month.

Ultimate needlers

The sharpest teeth ever to evolve belonged to an animal without jaws. Conodonts were primitive marine vertebrates that died out 200 million years ago. X-rays show their teeth were incredibly sharp, with tips one-twentieth the width of a human hair (Proceedings of the Royal Society B, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2012.0147).

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